This invention relates in general to fuel supply mechanisms for internal combustion engines, and more particularly to a fuel supply mechanism where fuel is vaporized in a remote reservoir for use in an internal combustion engine.
For years fuel has been supplied to the standard internal combustion engine by a carburator which mixes raw fuel pumped from a fuel supply tank with air. The fuel/air mixture is then sucked into the combustion chambers and ignighted by a spark to create the required combustion reaction necessary to power the engine. It has long been recognized that the carburator does not provide for an efficient utilization of the fuel.
With the rapid rise in fuel prices it has become necessary to develop improved mechanisms for getting fuel to the combustion cylinders in a manner which provides for a more efficient use of the fuel. Recent efforts to improve fuel economy have resulted, for example, in the development of a direct fueld injection engine which eliminates the carburator. In such system, pressurized fuel is delivered to injectors which aspirate the fuel into an air stream for delivery to the combustion chambers. Since the fuel aspiration is capable of a more finite control, fuel consumption efficiency is markedly improved. However, a relatively significant portion of the fuel still does not burn in the combustion chambers to provide motive energy and is therefore wasted. Thus fuel consumption efficiency is not optimized by the fuel injection system.